Angela Perez Villa

Fields of Study

Colombia

Slavery and freedom

Gender

About

My research seeks to contribute to a growing body of work that adds a gendered perspective to our understanding of early nineteenth-century Colombian social and cultural history. Specifically, I study how gender and family relations developed and shaped the day-to-day experiences of enslaved and free people of African descent in the province of Popayán during the wars of independence. In this process, I also examine the roles of other historical actors such as women slaveholders and Creole male elites. I am interested in understanding how they—together with slaves and freed people—constructed intricate social and political networks that constantly defined and remade the meanings of slavery and freedom in the region.